Patriots' Jones aiming to get a leg up on competition

Tuesday

May 20, 2014 at 8:36 PMMay 20, 2014 at 8:41 PM

Defensive end Chandler Jones has spent the offseason focusing on his lower body strength, an asset he believes will aid his overall game. Jones' 17.5 sacks through two seasons are the third-highest total by a Patriots in the first two years of his career.

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

FOXBORO – His 17.5 sacks through two seasons are the third-highest total by a Patriot in the first two years of his career, trailing only Garin Veris’ 21 in 1985-86 and Chris Slade’s 18.5 in 1993-94.

Still, defensive end Chandler Jones aims to get a leg up on the competition.

“I’ve been trying to focus on my lower body strength and stuff that will help in my pass rush and my run-stopping ability a little bit,” Jones said Tuesday, taking a break from workouts at Gillette Stadium.

“What I’ve been doing is just working on my lower-body strength. If I can get my legs stronger to get it equal with my upper body, I feel like I’ll be more proportioned and it will help me with my game a lot.”

Jones’ offseason game plan marks a reversal from last offseason, when he focused on the strength he could generate in his upper body.

“Me, personally, I always try to focus on one thing,” said Jones. “I feel like when you try to focus on too many different things, that’s when you’re not going anywhere.

“So last season was my upper body and you’re always focusing, you’re trying to get better. But this year I’m focusing on my lower body. I feel like it can definitely help with me and the whole sport of football – change of directions, even my bull rush, whatever it is. I feel like without your legs you’re not anything. So I’ve been focusing on my lower body.”

After tying for seventh in the NFL in sacks with 11.5 and ranking fifth on the Patriots in tackles with 82 (according to coaches’ film review) and appearing in all 18 of his team’s games – 16 regular season and two postseason – Jones spent a good portion of his offseason relaxing his body.

“When the season ended I took a few weeks off,” he said. “I did take a lot off. I just kicked my feet up. I went to Jamaica. I went to New York. I went to Miami. I went a few places just to relax, just to chill before I really started getting back into my groove.”

There will also be time to “chill” next month when Jones will serve as best man at the wedding of his brother, Arthur, a defensive lineman who moved on to the Indianapolis Colts from the Ravens as a free agent this offseason but still calls Baltimore his home.

The best man role does come with some personal sacrifice, however.

While saying he was “excited” about it, Jones was quick to add: “I don’t like getting suits, though.”

For now, though, the Patriots’ top pick in the 2012 draft prepares for his third season in New England.

“I wouldn’t call myself a vet yet. Not yet,” he said. “We’ve still got Vince Wilfork and Tommy Kelly and (recent free-agent addition) Will Smith. We’ve got a lot of vets in that defensive line so I’m still a young guy, I say.”

A young guy old enough to have learned some lessons along the way.

“My rookie year I feel like there was a lot of times where I was just trying to get by with my talent and I feel like at this level of football everyone’s talented so I feel like you definitely have to study more film,” said Jones. “That’s my biggest advice to all the rookies now. Just getting in the film room.

“You’re in the NFL so you’re talented, you’re talented enough to play on this level, but you have to have the mentality and the mental strength as well to play up here.”

Patriots release Morris: Four days after they signed him, the Patriots announced they’d released linebacker James Morris, a rookie free agent from Iowa, who failed his physical.

OTAs on horizon: The Patriots are scheduled to kick off their organized team activities next week with sessions set for May 27, 29 and 30. Subsequent OTAs are scheduled for June 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12 and 13.

The team’s minicamp is scheduled for June 17-19.

There is no public access to the OTAs or minicamp.

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